Ardground, County Derry
Origin
Of uncertain origin
Background
The final -d of the contemporary form is not attested in any of the earlier historical forms and can probably be attributed to analogy with the English word ‘ground’ and excluded from consideration of the original name.
Ard is probably the most common term used in place-names to signify ‘height’, or, as an adjectival prefix, ‘high’. In some cases it can be confused with aird ‘point’ which is the original form of many instances of anglicised ard in coastal regions such as Aird Mhór ‘big point’ (Ardmore) in Cos Galway and Waterford (Flanagan & Flanagan 1994, 17), although in this inland townland the latter is unlikely.
The second element might be grean which can mean ‘the bottom of the sea, lake, river’, ‘the gravel or coarse sand om such a bottom’ or ‘coarse sand’ in a form such as Ard Grin ‘height of the coarse sand’ following this townlands position on the bank of a river (OSNI).
References
FK (2020)Additional Information
Historical name form
| Old Form | Ref. Date | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| (?)Ard Greewen | 1613 | Lond. Comp. Valuation 310 |
| Ardgrowe | 1622 | Phillips MSS (Maps) 162 |
| (?)Ardgriffin | 1654 | Civ. Surv. iii 234 |
| (?)Ardgriffin | 1659c | Census 1659 127 |
| Ardgrewnie | 1663 | HMR (Ò Doibhlin 2) 48 |
| Ardgrewne | 1686 | Bishop. Der. ii 111 $279 |
| Ardgrown | 1814 | Sampson (Munn) 109 |
| ~Airdgrian ""the gravel hill"" | 1827 | OSNB Inf. 93 C15 |
| ~Ard-grian ""high ground"" | 1827 | J O'D (OSNB) 93 C15 |
| ~Ard-grian ""The high ground"" | 1925 | Munn's Notes 109 |
| ~Ard-gronnda ""The height of the foundation"" | 1925 | Munn's Notes 109 |
| ~Ard-grunnt ""The high foundation"" | 1925 | Munn's Notes 109 |
- Barony
- Tirkeeran
- Parish
- Cumber Lower
- Parish in 1851
- Cumber Lower
- Townland
- None
- Place name ID
- 908
- Place name type
- T